Brothers
by Toby Ragg
Summary: Barney's life changes with phone call. and how will Dr.Horrible survive in NYC?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I had this idea and I had to try it out. I'll only continue if I have enough reviews, so let me know. Sorry if my spelling sucks.**

Barney Stinson was happy. He had an awesome life, a wing-man, and plenty of girls at his disposal. So he rarely had time to worry about much, especially not troubled family members. That is, until he got the phone call.

"Barney?"

"What?"

"I did something…horrible."

That was when Barney's life got a little less awesome.

_

Billy didn't speak with his family much. They were part of the old Billy, and he also couldn't risk putting them in danger. So he moved across the country and didn't think about his old life. Thing weren't great in L.A, but it could be worse. But on that faithful day, when everything went to hell, Billy broke down. He couldn't handle the Doctor much longer. He needed to escape from what he had done. So he did the only thing he could. He called his brother.

-

The plane was late. Barney hated waiting. He could be doing much better things with his time right now; drinking with Ted, getting laid. But he was stuck in JFK airport, waiting for his brother. When Billy called, desperate for a place to stay, Barney couldn't refuse. After all, he was family. Finally he caught sight of his brother coming down the stairs.

-

Billy caught sight of Barney. He looked the same as he remembered, but better dressed. He was fiddling with the cuffs of his suit, looking kind of annoyed. Billy shifted his bag, blinked twice and walked over to his twin brother with his head down.

"Hey Barney."

-

Billy didn't look well. He clothes were baggy and kind of sloppy. He looked dejected, and was blinking a lot. He seemed scared of Barney. Something bad must have gone down in L.A, but he wasn't going to push the issue right now.

"Hey Billy."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Second chapter. I realize I post really short chapters, but there will be more, so just be patient.**

The ride home from the airport was quiet. Billy stared out the window blankly and Barney texted one of his bimbos to let her know he was busy to tonight. The whole situation was incredibly awkward, but Barney was somewhat glad his brother was being so silent. He couldn't deal with an emotional breakdown yet.

-

"So this is where you'll stay. Um, I don't keep much stuff in my apartment for people, so…"

Barney was struggling with the tour of his apartment. Except for the short time Lily lived with him, he never had a really permanent guest. He didn't even have food for himself, so how was he supposed to feed his emotional unstable brother?

"Wanna go out? I'll see if my friends can meet us at the bar."

_

"Can I just…stay here? I've got some …calls to make."

Billy blinked twice as he was talking, hoping his brother would let him off, and just leave him to his thoughts. He didn't want to meet anyone yet. He just wanted to forget, and he wanted to do with alone, preferably without alcohol. Billy knew he would get no sympathy from his womanizing brother.

Barney looked almost relived as he left his apartment. Billy chose not to take it personally.

He felt out of place in the stylish apartment. He could tell that Barney was not a relationship man. Everything about the apartment screamed "you don't belong here", but where else was he going to go? So he pulled out his laptop, turned on his webcam and sighed.

-

"I don't know what to do!"

Barney begged the gang to meet him at McLaren's. He needed a drink and to break the news that his weird twin brother was living with him. Naturally, everyone had been surprised to learn of the other brother.

"Does he really look just like you?" Marshall asked? "'cause that just weirds me out."

"Yes, we look very similar, but we are nothing alike. He's all sensitive and poetic and kind of a geek. He's a scientist or inventor or something nerdy like that." Barney scoffed. 'The point is that he is living in my apartment and moping around. This is SO not cool!" he finished, pounding the table and starling the whole bar.

Robin spoke up. "Can we meet him?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Sorry! i am a horrible updater. And i don't if this chapter was worth the wait, but the next one will be. **

Billy stared at his computer screen, reflecting on his own face. Blogging made him feel like he had a knife in his gut, but he needed this closure.

"As of today, I have re-located. I will not tell you where I am. I just can do _that_ anymore. Not after…" Billy voice cracked and he tried to speed up his speech. "I may return. I will fix society, just… not right now." He blinked. "So…bye."

He looked round his new room. There were a lot of suits, but Barney seems to have tried to clear out some space for him. The first thing Billy does, he pulls out a large garment bag, and puts it deep into the closet. Maybe one day, but not now.

-

A couple of days had gone by. Billy had yet to leave the apartment, and Barney was still adjusting to the role of caretaker. The gang hadn't met Billy yet, but tonight they were all going out to dinner. It had been hard to convince Billy to leave, but there they were, sitting at a table eating together. A silence loomed, and no one seemed anxious to break it. Billy sat uncomfortably, staring at his plate. Barney was trying to have one of those telepathic conversations with the gang to say "See? I told you he was weird!" And everyone else was too busy marveling over the fact that they were looking at two Barney's, with completely different personalities.

"So Billy…" Lily started, "You lived in L.A.? How was that?"

"Fine." Billy mumbled. "I didn't really …umm….get out much."

No one believed a person this socially awkward existed. Especially not one related to Barney.

-

The ride home in the taxi was like the ride home from the airport. Really, really awkward.

"So those are my friends." Barney tried.

"They seem nice. Uh, that one guy is really...um… tall."

Small talk was not Billy's strong point. And suddenly Barney just was done.

"Billy, I want to help you. But if you're just going to mope around my apartment, alone, you could do that back in L.A. Why did you come here?"

Billy looked at his brother, who for once had some sincere emotion in his eyes. He sighed.

"When we get home, I need to show you something."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Yes I am back. I know it's been forever and I day since an update. I will try harder. Also, I don't particularly like this chapter, but it had to happen, both for the story and for me.**

"You blog? That's so awesome!" Barney was excited to finally find something he had in common with his brother. But Billy didn't seem that enthused to find the common ground. He just seemed more nervous than usual.

"Yes" was all Billy mumbled as a reply. He clicked on a link, gave the laptop to Barney and said "please watch it all." Then he left the room. Barney turned his attention to the screen. His first thought was that he really should try the video blog. Get his handsome mug out there. But then he started to pay attention to his brother's words. His songs. His story.

-

"So let me get this straight. You were a super villain in L.A, named . You had nemesis named Captain Hammer, and you murder a girl named Penny?"

At the mention on Penny, Billy shook, and tears formed in his eyes. This was the moment he had feared. How do you tell someone about your evil past?

"I screwed up so bad Barney. I loved her, but I hated him more. It was going fine, but he broke it Barney. He broke the gun and she died. That's not the kind of villain I was. I wanted to change the world with her. And I killed her." Billy broke down, sobbing on Barney's couch.

Barney didn't know what to say. His shy brother had this entire life that no one had known about. And it was killing him. Billy was always the quiet one. He couldn't handle this kind of stress, and Barney knew that this breakdown was only the beginning. It was just going to get worse, and Billy wasn't equipped to be around strangers.

"Billy, listen to me. I am going to help you. You will stay here, and we will start over together. has to stop. You need to just be Billy, okay? Because Billy has a chance at a good life, but does not."

Billy had never heard his brother say anything that nice or sincere. Barney was usually so out there, too busy with his life to remember his brother. So Billy was not going to let this moment slide.

"Thank you Barney. I want to fix this."

Barney hugged his brother for the first time since he had left for L.A. He just had one thing left to cover.

"Dude, what's the singing? We don't do that here."

"That's just how it is in L.A. Everyone sang. Captain Hammer, Penny, local news stations. It was kinda weird at first, but I liked it. Made everyone a star, sorta."

"I bet that could get me laid!" Barney exclaimed, forgetting that this had previously been a somber moment. But then, for the first time in a week, Billy smiled.


End file.
